


It's Not Stalking, It's Research

by animenutcase



Series: The Misadventures of the Family Known As The Shepherds [9]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-14
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animenutcase/pseuds/animenutcase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerome gets so caught up in avoiding Laurent's parents that he doesn't see something right under his nose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not Stalking, It's Research

Gerome could feel her watching him. What he didn’t understand was why. He could understand why his parents were always following him around. He could understand why Morgan was always following him around. He even understood why Laurent was always following him around.

But why, in Naga’s name, were Laurent’s _parents_ following him around!?

Because it wasn't just Laurent's mother. Oh no, Laurent's father was in on it, too. It seemed like Gerome couldn't go even a single day without Virion inviting him for tea, which puzzled him. Virion's constant flirting with other women and inviting them for tea had been legendary in Gerome's future, though Gerome had never seen it for himself. At the same time, he never struck Gerome as being particularly interested in men (his fascination with Owain's father notwithstanding).

If it had been the Miriel and Virion of his timeline, Gerome might have understood. The future he had come from had not been good to children. Though the Shepherds had done their best to be optimistic about the war, they knew that if they failed, it would fall to their children to keep fighting. Although the children were all taught to fight, however, the adults still wanted their children to have something resembling a childhood and grow up able to do something other than fight.

Although Gerome's father had been the one to teach him to read, it was Miriel that encouraged him to read beyond his level. Gerome started to read the tactical books his father had left behind, and they ended up saving his and his friends' lives on more than one occasion. Virion, meanwhile, taught Gerome about manners when his mother died. Despite Gerome's surly nature, Virion only lost his temper with him once, and that was when he'd said that his mother had abandoned him.

Gerome was grateful to the Miriel and Virion of his timeline, but these two were not them. There was no reason for them to be interested in him, nor for him to respond to their interest.

He thought about his conversations with Laurent. Laurent _had_ been telling him to try interacting with the others. Had Laurent perhaps mentioned these conversations to his parents? Even if Laurent hadn't intended for them to start stalking Gerome, both of them _could_ be rather nosy. 

Or rather, Virion could be rather nosy. Miriel was more prone to seeing the neuroses of other people as an experiment, and often ignored their protests when she tried to get involved.

Was that what was going on? Were they simply curious as to what made Gerome tick? The thought irritated him, and he knew he couldn't just ignore it. He made his way to the barracks where Virion had invited him for tea and walked in without knocking.

Gerome was met with the sight of his parents and sister sipping tea with Virion, his wife, and Laurent.

"My my!" Virion raised an eyebrow in curious surprise. "And here I was thinking you wouldn't be making an appearance, Gerome! After all, you already declined my invitation."  
"At least everyone's here!" Morgan chirped. "I'm glad that my whole family's here to hear the announcement!"  
"Announcement?" Gerome parroted back. "What announcement?"  
"Ahem." Laurent cleared his throat as he stood up. "I am pleased to see that everyone on both sides of our families have gathered here today to hear our announcement. You see, Morgan and I-"  
"We're engaged!" Morgan piped up before Laurent could finish, holding up her left hand to reveal an engagement ring.

" _WHAT_!?" Gerome had been expecting shock all around the room, but looked around when he realized that he was the only one who had shouted.

Contrary to his expectations, neither Laurent's nor Gerome's parents looked very shocked. Robin didn't even look surprised.

"I was wondering when the two of you were going to make it official." He chuckled.  
"Goodness, it feels like just yesterday when we found Morgan." Cherche gave a small laugh.  
"It was several months ago." Miriel replied. "Four, to be precise."  
"It might seem like we're rushing into things, but I still have amnesia!" Morgan chimed in. "I probably still have a lot memories with Laurent that I can't remember yet."  
"Indeed." Laurent nodded.  
"Now, now." Virion said gently. "We're not criticizing your decision at all. We're quite pleased!"

"How can you-" All eyes moved to Gerome. "How can you all be okay with this!?"

"I don't really see what you mean, Gerome." Cherche shook her head. "We've been aware that something was going on between Laurent and your sister for some time now."  
"I didn't!"  
"Oh, you should have seen it!" Robin laughed. "They've been "subtly" flirting for weeks now."  
"Are you not happy, Gerome?" Morgan gave her brother a sad look.  
"That's..."  
"Perhaps Gerome needs a few minutes to mull it over." Virion spoke up suddenly. "My lovely wife and I shall have a chat with him."

Before Gerome knew what was happening, he was being whisked out of the room by his sister's future in-laws.

"Gerome, you _do_ understand that this would not be as much of a surprise to you had you accepted my previous invitations?" Virion asked, sounding unusually stern. "I thought that inviting you to have tea with your family might help bridge the gap between the two of you."  
"You mean all this time you-" Gerome gave Virion an outraged look. "Did Robin and Cherche put you up to it!?"  
"Not at all." Virion shook his head. "I merely took an interest in the fact that my knight's son was ignoring her and her husband."  
"As for me..." Miriel stepped forward, adjusting her glasses. "I noted the peculiarity of a child traveling back from a future in which his parents died going out of his way to avoid the past versions of his parents, even after they learned his identity."  
"So you've been stalking me to find out why I won't talk to them!?"  
"I prefer the term "observational research", thank you very much."

Gerome glared at them both.

"Our point is, Gerome, that when you avoid your family, you may end up blindsided by events such as this." Virion sighed.  
"Robin and Cherche aren't my parents!" Gerome scoffed. "The only family I have in this time are Minerva and Morgan!"  
"And because you avoided your "not-parents", you were unaware that your sister was being courted until the announcement of her engagement." Miriel explained. "Had you not interrupted our social gathering when you did, I wager you would not have learned of it until Laurent and Morgan's nuptials."  
"There is no way they're getting married!" Gerome protested.

At this, Virion and Miriel's stares turned icy.

"Gerome, I _do_ hope that you don't think that just because _you_ were unaware that your sister had fallen to the charms of a man of House Virion, you have the right to rain upon their happiness?" Virion asked as he tilted his head. "Because we may have a problem if that is the case."

Gerome scowled at them, but said nothing.

"Will Morgan's engagement to Laurent be a problem, Gerome?" Miriel asked as she adjusted her glasses once more.  
"Morgan never told me anything about it!" Gerome protested. "And for all Laurent's talk of how I needed to open up to others more, he never said anything about liking Morgan!"

Virion and Miriel both gave him a surprised look.

"Morgan's willing to come up to me and ask me to help her get her memories back, but she's not willing to share the fact that she's interested in having a more intimate relationship with one of our mutual friends!?" Gerome ignored them and kept ranting. "And Laurent tells me I should talk to others more, but he decides not to mention that he's interested in my sister, the dastard!"

Gerome stopped shouting when he realized what he'd been saying.

"I... I'm sorry." Gerome stammered, hoping that they wouldn't see how red his face was under the mask. "I'm just... I'm just frustrated. I never imagined that something like this would happen. I practically had to raise Morgan myself after our parents died, and to hear that she wants to get married right out of nowhere..."  
"As we have already stated, this predicament could have been avoided had you been willing to engage your family in conversation." Miriel sighed.  
"They're not my..." Gerome began, but trailed off.  
"Ahem!" Virion cleared his throat. "At any rate, there is nothing you can do about the engagement at this point, but perhaps speaking to Laurent and Morgan about your troubles might help clear the air?"

Gerome said nothing, but nodded.

"Wonderful!" Virion clapped his hands. "And we can discuss wedding plans while we are at it!"

Gerome brooded to himself as Virion led them back to the room where the others were waiting, but grit his teeth as he opened the door. It was true that there was nothing he could do at this point. He'd just have to make due and make sure that Laurent knew that he'd be fed to Minerva if he ever treated Morgan poorly.

He still wasn't happy about, but that was fate for you.


End file.
